Spice Cake with Heraldic decor (Not a period recipe)
We hosted a pot-luck dinner last night and I tried out four delicious recipes. The first two were from “The Medieval Cookbook” by Maggie Black. First was Frumenty, a cracked-wheat, porridge type dish that was eaten as a side-dish by the wealthy & as a main course by everyone else. I made this in the Norman fashion, thickened with egg yolk & flavored with saffron, however rather than using beef stock, I used vegetable broth, because one of our guests is vegetarian & I wanted everyone to be able to try it. It was quite tasty and filling in a healthy-feeling sort of way. I’ll probably be making it again in the future, but because of its mild flavor, I’ll be using it as a side-dish.
The second recipe was Mushroom Pasties. Pasties are a bit like a small, single serving sized pie, which I understand are still popular in the British Isles. I made this recipe as a single, large pie to save preparation time and it seemed to work out quite well. Considering the few ingredients, (the filling is basically mushrooms & a small amount of cheese seasoned with some olive oil, pepper, salt & mustard powder) they were surprisingly flavorful. Fortunately for and previously unknown to me, a large portion of our guests are not fond of mushrooms, so half a pie was left for me to munch on.
The Medieval Cookbook is well laid-out, organizing the recipes into sections according to different situations including foods for traveling, monastic foods and feasting. It also includes a chapter on herbals and simples, although the publishers include a disclaimer regarding the use of the recipes. Ms. Black keeps the book a good read with her informative introduction and by starting each chapter with some information on the social atmosphere the recipes would have been found in. It’s also quite delightful that each recipe is included as it was originally written, just above her interpretation of it.
The third recipe was for a White Leach, a type of sweet made with milk & gelatin flavored with rosewater, which I learned at the Simple Fancy Desserts class I took at the Great Northeastern War in July. The class, taught by Mistress Caryl de Trecesson, was quite informative and incredibly tasty, as she brought samples of nearly all the recipes for us to try. Much to my delight, the leach came out exactly like the one I had tried in class. It was simple and inexpensive to make, as well as light and tasty (we all win!). You can view Mistress de Trecesson’s website at http://www.dragonbear.com/
The final recipe I made was a middle-eastern drink called Sekanjabin. It’s minty, refreshing and wonderful to have on a hot day. I received this recipe from an incredibly helpful woman at the Eastern Kingdom party at Pennsic in 2005. Unfortunately, I never learned her name, so I am unable to credit her properly. To make sekanjabin, simmer two cups sugar with one cup water, add a handful of fresh mint leaves & continue to simmer for 15-20 minutes until the syrup tastes quite minty (be careful when testing this, because the syrup will be very hot! I burned my tongue in my haste to taste!). When the syrup is sufficiently minty, strain it into a glass jar, then add one cup of white vinegar. Store tightly covered for up to two weeks; mix with water to your taste-bud’s preference. I found that this amount of syrup made about two gallons of sekanjabin. Although I learned this recipe in 2005, this is the first time I’ve made it myself & I was quite pleased with the results. In future, I will use a scant cup of vinegar, as I thought it was a little strong.
Altogether, I was quite pleased with my first attempt at medieval cooking. The pot-luck was a complete success, although I am convinced that my taste-buds are more adventurous than most. Some folks weren’t fond of the sekanjabin and I find that most people find the flavor of rose to be a little too unusual for their comfort. I did, however, warn everyone that this would be a bit experimental, so they knew what they were getting into and had enough delicious food to eat nonetheless.
I encourage you all to try your hand at medieval cooking & taste something new every chance you get!
